"Wow, this is great!"
Kate beamed up at the blue sky above her as the boat to Boyle Island flew across the ocean weightlessly. Keith also seemed to be in a good mood.
"Alright! At this rate, we'll be at Boyle Island in no time! Then we'll rescue Rhythmi and beat up those Dim Sun freaks while we're at it!" He grinned. Kate smiled in response, looking up towards the sky again.
The sun was out and there were very few clouds in the sky, each one a pure white color. The sun wasn't directly above them, as it was still morning, but it was already a nice warm temperature out which was rivaled by the breeze created by the boat racing to their destination. The cobalt tint that painted the dawning sky was dotted with small purple dots, and—
'…Purple dots?'
Kate blinked as she squinted to get a closer look at the small dots that were now slowly but surely growing in size, and it became apparent that they were descending through the air towards their boat.
The girl hurried to her feet and exclaimed, "Keith, look up!"
Keith obeyed the sudden command and craned his neck upward to look at the dots. He gaped as he said, "Those are Drifloon! Oh, wow, these things only appear in Sinnoh on Fridays!"
"Oh, they're so cute…" Kate sighed happily as the Drifloon finally floated around at their eye level. One particularly friendly Balloon Pokémon wafted over to the girl and she held it in her arms contentedly. Lyrical was having a grand time jumping in the air from Drifloon to Drifloon, and Tempo was playing a slightly cruel game in which he tried to hit the yellow X on the Pokémon head on with his Water Gun.
"Wha—HEY! GET OFF!"
"Dri—dri! Driflooon!"
"Huh?" Kate looked over in Keith's direction to see at least three Drifloon that were sticking to Keith's hair, most likely due to static cling. Keith was trying to get them off, but between the Drifloon's panic and even more of them being unwillingly pulled towards Keith's spiky hair, the task proved to be virtually impossible.
The female Ranger stifled a giggle, which only stimulated Keith's rage even further. "IT IS NOT FUNNY!" He roared. "Here, let's see how you like it!"
And with that, he snatched two Drifloon out of the air and promptly grinded them against each of Kate's pigtails, where they immediately created friction and the pair stuck tight there.
"Wha… Keith!" Kate screamed in protest, but Keith was already struggling to hold back his laughter.
"Pfft… Y-your hair…" He started, but when he caught a look at the utterly bemused expression on Kate's face he burst into hysterics. "AHAHAHAHAHA!"
"IT IS NOT FUNNY!" Kate shrieked, repeating the exact same words Keith had yelled not seconds earlier. This only proved to further fuel Keith's laughter.
"Man, this is too cute," He gasped through his cackles. Kate went red as she stammered in protest, "I… t-that's… I am not cute!" She screamed.
"Uh, yeah, you are." Keith smiled. Kate sighed in defeat.
"Jeez… Let's just get these poor guys off our hair. This could be classified as Pokémon abuse, you know." She said, pulling the Drifloon off of her and setting them free into the air. The girl then proceeded to help Keith with his array of purple balloon Pokémon stuck in his spiky locks. "Ugh, these guys are really stuck tight," She mumbled, stepping closer and leaning forward more to try and untangle them, as the strings that hung from their purple bodies had gotten ensnared in both each others' and Keith's hair.
Keith turned faintly red at the sudden motion. "K—Kate—" He started, but Kate disregarded him, replying, "Look, I know it's a little awkward having them all stuck in there, but put up with it at least until I get them out."
'It's not that!' Keith thought, mind being hurled into an aching frenzy, 'It's that you're right there and I'm right here and your arms are around my neck and there are friggin' Drifloon everywhere and why in the name of Arceus am I panicking like this?'
At that moment, the poor oblivious female Ranger leaned forward even more, and now their chests were almostpressed up against each other. Keith felt the blood rush to his temples as he suddenly felt lightheaded. It was easy for him to notice that he'd obviously grown in the months they'd been working as Rangers; he was now at least half a head taller than Kate, and that wasn't counting his hair. Kate really hadn't changed since the past, maybe her pigtails had gotten larger due to the growth of hair she'd had, but that was about it. It was a whole different spin compared to the theory that girls matured faster than boys. But this situation was almost terrifying. Kate's pale blue eyes were fixed somewhere above his amber ones, and her small delicate hands were entangled in his hair trying to get the Drifloon out. He felt another fresh rush of panic overcome him. If he leaned in just the tiniest bit closer, then—
"OK… hang on… there! Got 'em!"
But he didn't get the chance to finish the agitating thought, as in that same instant Kate stepped back as she watched the Drifloon that had previously resided in his hair float serenely towards the sky.
Keith's heart was still pounding relentlessly against his ribcage as he struggled to compose himself. His breathing evened out after a few moments, but the problem started up again when Kate turned to look at him.
He jumped slightly at the small action, and Kate blinked in surprise at this. "…Are you feeling alright?" She asked concernedly.
"I'm fine!" Keith replied in a spur of pure instinct. Kate's eyes narrowed, but then she shrugged and dismissed the matter. Keith's shoulders slumped in relief, and he turned towards the miniature building on the boat where the captain stayed to steer the boat and take care of the engine with the intention of asking the captain when they were going to be docking on Boyle Island, but he was surprised to find the captain already there, leaning coolly against the door frame.
"Oh, hey." Keith greeted in slight shock, and he immediately began praying the captain hadn't seen that little episode there.
The captain stared at Keith silently, but then remarked, "Well! I heard all the legends about how seeing the Drifloon migration brings happiness to couples, but I just thought they were rumors. Guess I was wrong."
Keith turned fire engine red in two seconds flat, but then thought it best not to argue and inquired shakily, "Wh—when are we docking at Boyle Island?"
The captain looked at his watch, then peered around behind Keith to look at the ocean. "Hmm… let's see… We should be landing about…" His face lit up as he found what he was looking for on the horizon. "Now."
"Huh?" Keith said in confusion, but when he turned around to look behind him he saw a huge volcano growing larger and larger as they sped towards it. On closer inspection, Keith saw a town surrounding it.
Kate seemed worried. "Is it safe to build a town around a volcano?" She asked. The captain nodded.
"Don't worry, Boyle Volcano has been dormant for two hundred years," He replied, but Kate still didn't seem convinced.
The boat docked at the island, and after thanking the captain for taking them there they proceeded to walk about the town, not precisely sure where to start.
"OK, so what should we do now?" Kate asked. "I mean, we don't know where they were investigating. Should we ask around? I don't think anyone will suspect we're actually on an illegal Mission…"
Keith clapped a hand over the girl's mouth and looked around frantically to see if the group of tourists not six feet away from them had noticed. He then looked at her angrily and hissed, "Could you speak up a little? I don't think those tourists quite heard you." Kate pouted irritably at this.
"Well, I don't see how we can—" She started, but was cut off by a small voice behind her.
"Did you say you were investigating something? Do you mean the missing Pokémon and that girl that was kidnapped?"
"Who is that?" Kate said curiously, turning to see who the voice belonged to. She was slightly surprised to see a young girl, maybe ten or eleven, standing firmly before them. She had very long hair reaching down to her knees which was, oddly enough, a very deep red. Her skin was dark, either from being a native to the island or simply from the immense amount of sun. But the most peculiar thing about the girl had to be her eyes—the left was scarlet red and her other eye was chocolate brown.
"Well? Are you?" She demanded bravely, although the two Rangers could see she was shaking slightly in nervousness.
"Yes, we are," Kate said kindly, bending down to look the girl in the eyes. "Would you happen to know anything that could help us?"
"Don't talk to me like I'm a little kid!" The girl growled. "I'm already eleven years old, stupid!"
"Hey! Don't talk to Kate like that, kid!" Keith exclaimed, stepping forward to glare at the small girl. The two glowered into each other's eyes, red and brown meeting amber. The looks they were sending each other were enough to make any Dim Sun grunt head for the hills. Kate sweatdropped, hoping this girl wouldn't turn out to be another Alex.
"A—anyways," She intervened, trying to break the silence, "Do you know anything about what we're investigating?"
The girl turned away from Keith reluctantly to face Kate, and replied, "Yeah. I usually into the volcano to play ("She plays in a volcano?" muttered Keith), but lately I've been seeing these weird guys in dark costumes running around with these laptop thingies. It was around then all the Pokémon started disappearing."
Kate nodded slowly. "OK, it certainly sounds like Dim Sun's work… But is there anyone in charge here that we could speak to?"
The girl shrugged. "Just my grandpa, he's the town elder. He's the only guy who'll be able to get you in the volcano to investigate this whole mess. But!" She exclaimed suddenly in addition, "I'll only take you to see him on one condition."
Keith, who was now fully irritated, snapped, "What?"
The girl glowered at each of them, and then said firmly, "You have to get Keahi back."
Kate blinked confusedly. "Kea… excuse me, what?" She inquired.
The girl didn't budge. "Keahi's my Growlithe. He's gone, too. So no matter what happens, you have to promise me that you'll try your hardest to bring him back. Promise me."
Kate nodded cautiously. "OK, we promise we'll do all we can to find him." She agreed. "But one more thing."
The girl looked over at her. "What is it now?"
Kate flinched slightly at this, but finally asked, "What's your name?"
The girl blinked. Then she exclaimed, "What, you mean I didn't tell you before? It's Pele."
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"I said, 'COULD YOU OPEN THE DOOR FOR US?'"
"Eh? Could you repeat that one more time, sonny? I'm a bit deaf."
"GEE, YOU DON'T SAY?"
Kate sweatdropped and watched as her hotheaded companion yelled their request once more at Pele's elderly grandfather. Pele had her head in her hands, mortified from the 'absolute total embarrassment' he was bringing upon her.
"Ohhh, I see, you want to go in the volcano!" The elder finally confirmed.
"THANK YOU!" Keith shouted gratefully. Kate was relieved the man had finally understood, Keith had looked as if he were about to strangle him.
"Very well, I shall write a letter to the gatekeeper promptly and you two can go on to the volcano." The elder said, but then he started to look worried. "However, the volcano is like a maze. I suggest that you take Pele with you."
Kate nodded acceptingly, but Keith was less amiable as his jaw dropped in disbelief. "WHAT?" he shouted.
"I said, 'I suggest you take Pele w—'" The elder started again, but Keith just yelled back, "I HEARD WHAT YOU SAID!"
Pele ignored this scene, walking out the front door instead. "Come on, let's go." She called behind her.
"O—OK! Come on, Keith!" Kate said, grabbing a sulking Keith's sleeve and dragging him after Pele.
The three walked briskly down the dirt path carved into the ground, Pele refused to slow down as the two Rangers struggled not to lose her in the crowd. Keith scowled.
"That's it, quit going so damn fast!" He yelled, running ahead of Pele. Pele growled and retorted, "I'm going the same speed I always do, dummy!" and began to run after him. Kate sighed and sprinted after the two.
It continued like that for awhile, Keith in front, Pele right behind and Kate lagging behind the two. Suddenly, however, Keith stopped, causing Pele to crash into him at top speed and Kate against the girl just as quickly.
"What in the name of—" Pele coughed in shock. "Don't just stop so suddenly like that!"
But Keith ignored the hotheaded girl, saying, "I'll be right back," and walking off towards a stand.
Kate looked over at Pele, staring into her differently colored eyes. Then she inquired, "Is something wrong with one of your eyes?"
Pele whipped her head around to glare at Kate, who backed off sheepishly. Then, however, she sighed and muttered, "It's just the way they are. I'm heterochromatic."
"H… heteri… what?" Kate struggled, quickly becoming confused. Pele sighed again and explained, "It is what you see. I have one red eye and one brown eye. The full term is heterochromia iridum."
Kate nodded in understanding, and in that instant Keith came running back holding a small white bag. He held it out to Kate, grinning insanely. "Here!"
"What's this?" Kate asked. Keith grinned more and said triumphantly, "A souvenir!"
Kate looked up at him in disbelief. "Rhythmi has been kidnapped, we're on an (illegal) Mission to rescue her, we're about to head into a volcano and you deem this the proper time to buy a souvenir?" She groaned. Keith blushed at this, but then recovered and muttered, "Just open the damn bag already."
Kate sighed and opened it, and was surprised to find two hair binders in them, each one modeled after Drifloon. The strings hanging from the real thing served as the elastics on the hair ties, and they were fairly small, the balloon part of the Pokémon model was only about the size of Kate's thumb.
The girl stared at the binders for a few seconds, then glanced up at Keith who was back to grinning like a maniac. Pele was staring suspiciously at the two.
"…Jeez," Kate sighed for what seemed to be like the millionth time that day, but then she ensued in tying the binders into her hair and putting the old ones in her pocket. When she was finished, she looked back up at the other two, her pale blue eyes large with anxiety, her cheeks slightly pink in embarrassment and, to top it all off, two Drifloon pinned to her hair.
"…Well? Do I look OK?" She asked self-consciously.
"You look way better than OK, dude." Pele assured, gaping in awe of the adorableness Kate was showing.
Keith grinned. "Rhythmi was wrong. I so have an eye for fashion." He bragged. "And speaking of Rhythmi, she's probably getting tired of the company of creeps, so we should probably get around to rescuing her now."
"Yeah, we definitely should," Kate nodded, but then stepped closer to Keith and looked up into his amber eyes again. Her eyes shone with happiness as she smiled and exclaimed, "And thank you so much for the barrettes, Keith! I love them!"
OK, that smile was officially enough to drive him off the edge.
"I… uh… sure! A—anytime!" The boy stammered as Kate walked off ahead of them.
Pele had been watching this entire scene with extreme interest. As the two began to walk a few feet behind Kate, she asked quietly, "Hey. Do you love her?"
Cue Keith choking on his tongue.
Finally, he managed to recover. "Wha… I… that's… Why does everyone think I like her?" He whisper-yelled so as not to attract Kate's attention.
Pele stared, then shook her head. "I didn't say like. I said love." She clarified, which only led to more of Keith's incomprehensible stuttering.
People had never used the word 'love' to describe them before. Oh, sure, there was 'crush' and 'got a thing for' and always the infamous 'like', but love? LOVE? WAS THIS GIRL COMPLETELY OUT OF HER MIND?
"And just how in the name of Arceus did you come to that impossible conclusion?" Keith demanded quietly as Kate walked on ahead, innocently unaware of the conversation behind her.
Pele huffed indignantly. "Clue number one: the gift you gave her. That's gotta mean something." She stated, counting off a one on her fingers.
Keith snorted in derision. "That was just a joke referring to a bunch of Drifloon we saw on the way here!"
Pele's eyes narrowed as she smiled evilly and counted off a two on her hand. "Clue number two: You saw the Drifloon migration together. And there is not a single couple on this island I know who didn't see the migration together as kids."
Keith's face went red as he struggled to think of a comeback for that, but eventually stayed silent, other than the slight mutter to himself that she was practically a tinier version of Rhythmi. Pele smirked and counted off a three.
"Clue number three: Did you see your face when all the girl said was 'thank you'? You looked as if you'd eaten a Tamato Berry." She said.
"That was just because—"
"CLUE NUMBER FOUR!" Pele interrupted in a yell-whisper.
"…"
Pele smiled and continued. "Clue number four," She said again, "You seemed pretty upset when Gramps had me go with you to the volcano. Most likely you had been looking forward to being in there alone with her."
Keith jumped at this, unable to reply, and Pele smirked more. "Hit the nail on the head, didn't I?" She inquired. No reply, so she kept talking.
"Really, it's pretty obvious. I'm willing to bet you get all angry whenever another guy hits on her or even talks to her." The girl continued. Keith looked up at this triumphantly, probably because he actually had a comeback this time.
"I only do that to make sure she isn't dragged off by some weird guy!" He protested.
Pele grinned. "You mean some weird guy other than you," She murmured. "It's called jealousy, my good man. Clue number five: You don't like the idea of her attention being diverted from you. Now then, do I have to keep trying to convince you, or are you satisfied?"
Keith, still utterly shocked from the ten-year-old girl's perceptiveness, growled and demanded, "Well then, what's the difference between 'liking' her and… well… that other word you said?"
Pele resisted the urge to roll her eyes, then whispered, "'Liking' comes from the head. 'Loving' comes from the heart. And yours is probably beating like a drum right now, huh?" She sighed in a slightly sarcastic manner though, however, saying, "Then again, everything I told you was just by my standards. The only one who will truly be able to sort all your feelings out is you." She winked, and then ran up ahead to Kate where they started talking about who knows what.
Keith, however, was feeling a little less than carefree. He tried and ultimately failed in getting his thoughts straight about the conversation he'd just had. Him? Love? Kate? It was all just so confusing. But no matter how he tried, he couldn't seem to find a way in how to explain his behavior towards Kate as purely platonic and not romantic in the slightest.
He kept on trying to convince himself, though, losing himself in thought the rest of the way to the volcano and during the short time it took for Kate and Pele to show the gatekeeper the elder's letter. Just as he thought he'd finally put up the barriers he'd worked so hard to build between him and Pele's words, Kate turned to him and smiled brightly.
"What are you waiting for? Rhythmi's waiting!" She said encouragingly, her pale eyes somehow shining in excitement as she turned away to follow Pele into the cave.
At that moment, something in Keith's chest made an unnecessary thump that sent his barriers crumbling and the blood rushing towards his face, and a voice that sounded like a cross between his conscience and Rhythmi sounded in the back of his head shouted, 'Pele's right, you know!'
'Shut up," Keith retorted angrily, not only because of what the voice had said but also because he was mentally talking to himself and, dammit, that was never a good sign.
He looked up from the ground he'd been so determinedly staring at as Pele explained to Kate how the Drifloon in the cave could carry them across the lava river if captured.
"…Hey, Kate?" He asked. Kate looked up from Pele's alternately colored eyes and turned to him, smiling again. "Yes?" She inquired.
A stabbing pain that, oddly enough, seemed to give him pleasure as well occurred yet again in Keith's chest, and he looked away from her as he muttered, "Never mind. It's nothing."
But it wasn't nothing, because he knew that in that precise moment she would be staring at him with wide, concerned blue eyes, but after a few seconds she would look away because she understood that talking wasn't going to solve anythingright now. He often questioned how she was able to understand both people and Pokémon's emotions so easily, and she would look puzzled and muse to herself for a bit before smiling and replying, "I just know."
He'd often comment to himself and Tempo (who was hanging onto Keith's shoulder and looking at him concernedly at the moment) how he loved the way she was able to understand most problems so easily, the way she knew how to deal with Pokémon and Missions so quickly, the way she would freak out when she couldn't find her dessert cookie (mainly because Keith would have stolen it)… But he'd never, ever tried putting it all together to equal the love he felt for the brunette herself.
Which was true, Keith realized suddenly.
He loved her. He loved the way she could tell what to do in most situations, whether it was a forest fire or a toaster one caused by Luana. He loved the way she freaked out whenever he and Rhythmi were yelling insults at one another—and how she was usually able to stop their quarrels in those said freak-outs. He loved the way she could take on a fully-grown Rampardos without fear and yet recoil in terrifying shyness when faced with talking to normally regular humans. He loved her high-pitched, obviously fake laugh she released when Crawford was entertaining so as not to hurt his feelings, and he loved the shadow of a smile that crossed her face when she was truly happy, but unsure of how show it.
All of it. He loved it all.
So now what?
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It was dark in her prison—or perhaps it would be more accurate to say 'storage room'. All the Dim Sun creeps had done was stick her in this dank and depressing closet, only opening the door to give her food, water, and of course the occasional restroom break which was closely monitored by a female goon.
Rhythmi sighed, looking up at the ceiling in dismay.
'Come on, guys. Where are you…?' She thought to herself. Then she cheered herself up a little at the thought of all the havoc she was going to wreak on Keith when she got home, since she'd been spending her time amusing herself with ways to torture him—using Kate, of course, as the main weapon. It wasn't as if there was anything else to do in this boring place. Besides, it served as a good distraction from her less-than-attractive surroundings.
The door opened just then, and one of the grunts who'd brought her to this Arceus-forsaken place became visible in the light. He jerked his head behind him, saying, "Our boss wants to see you. He insisted on it when he heard us describe you."
"Whatever," Rhythmi scoffed in disinterest, because she really wasn't anxious to see the leader of all these dorks. It was probably just another creepy guy, maybe a little older than the rest, whose black clothes would make it look as if he'd just come out of an oil spill. The girl noted lazily to herself that if she ever ended up going to the dark side, she'd choose one with better taste in clothes.
"Here he is," The grunt announced, and Rhythmi didn't bother looking up as she heard footsteps approaching. Her nose wrinkled as she caught a whiff of some strange scent that entered the room with her visitor. Wait a minute. She knew that scent. That was strawberry scented hair—
"Well, well, well. Just as I thought…" A terribly familiar voice sneered. "Hello, Rhythmi."
Rhythmi's neck nearly cracked as she immediately looked up at her main kidnapper, her eyes widening when she saw who it was.
"Oh, my Arceus," she gasped.
